Want to make it in marketing?

Fill helps candidates at every stage of their career – from university graduates to the highest echelons of the marketing hierarchy. Our consultants all have hands-on agency experience and can give you the inside track on applying at every level, from Account Exec to joining the Board as a Group Account Director.

Our new series tells you what to expect on every rung of the ladder and how a good recruiter can help you reach the top.

 

1 STARTING OUT IN MARKETING

Get your foot in the door

For most novice marketers, the first rung on the agency ladder is Account Executive.

As the industry is so competitive, agencies set the bar pretty high for entry, usually expecting candidates to have a degree-level qualification of at least 2:1 plus evidence of an internship* or at least some basic work experience with an agency or in a client side marketing department.

For this reason it is wise to register with a recruitment consultancy such as Fill before blindly submitting a CV directly to an agency you see advertising a job. Many use recruiters as a key part of the filtering process so they don’t have to wade through piles of CVs to find the right person.

It doesn’t cost you anything to use a recruiter – they are paid by the agencies that they find staff for and their fees are based on a percentage of the negotiated salary that is agreed between the employer and employee.

Your CV

Top tip A good CV will get you a good recruiter. Before submitting your resume, read our ‘Spring-clean your CV’ post for advice and tips.

Meeting your recruiter

A reputable recruiter will always want to meet you, either face to face or via Skype or Facetime. You could consider this your first interview before being unleashed into the big wide marketing world. It gives the recruiter valuable insight into the kind of person you are, your aspirations and what type of agencies you are most suited to in terms of disciplines and culture.

If you get through this stage - and bear in mind that some people don’t - a recruiter will then submit the CVs of candidates they feel would be suitable for particular junior-level roles that their clients are trying to fill.

If you are registered with more than one recruiter it is important to declare this fact as you may be submitted for the same roles by different recruiters. A recruiter will seek to get sole representation for a candidate for a particular client role and would expect that candidate to advise other recruiters that they are already being represented if they suggest the same vacancy.

Clients will then assess the selection of CVs and shortlist the candidates they would like to see for interview.

Next time we will look at what to expect when you are selected for interview.

 *A good starting point for getting an internship with an agency is to write to those agencies that you either know of through your reading of the marketing press or those that you discover from the lists of trade associations that many agencies are members of.

Key associations are:

Marketing Agencies Association - www.marketingagencies.org.uk

The Direct Marketing Association - www.dma.org.uk

The Content Marketing Association - www.the-cma.com

The Institute of Promotional Marketing - www.theipm.org.uk

The Institute for Practitioners in Advertising - www.ipa.co.uk

Friday 7th April 2017